Last updated April 21, 2017
Trying to put a value on Volunteers is hard, almost impossible, but there are good reasons for measuring some of your volunteering outcomes:
Volunteers are Precious
Understanding and measuring the performance outcomes of volunteers shows that you care. Volunteer managers are ethically bound to understand their resource and use it as effectively as possible, and in order to do that, you must be able to show that what they are doing meets a need and they are being utilised as efficiently as possible.
Is it Working?
If you are not measuring performance, how will you know if your new strategy is paying off? How will you ensure your activities are meeting the brief, and that your mission is on track? If it’s not working, you can get a much better idea of why if you are measuring the different variables involved.
Create a Buzz
Often there is some resistance to ‘measuring’ how well volunteers are performing – some liken it to only caring about numbers – but there is also a more positive impact. Once you get your volunteers to buy in to the reasons behind performance management, you will find they get well and truly on board. If volunteers feel like their comments and suggestions are being listened to and their good work is making a difference, you will find engagement measures increase too.
Increasingly organisations are required to include volunteer evaluations and impact reports in funding applications and reviews. Instead of viewing this as another set of forms to fill out (we know!) try considering how valuable that information can be to the whole group and using the data wherever possible.
Rosie Julou
Rosie is the General Manager at Exult and works behind the scenes planning, organising and making everything run smoothly. She is passionate about working in the community sector.
If you think this article would be useful for your members, you are welcome to use it on your website or in your newsletter. We just ask that you let us know where it is being used, and that you acknowledge our website at the bottom of the article. If you are using the article online, please include a link to our homepage.
Hello Rosie,
We have found resistance to both having volunteers filling in a questionnaire and also the collection of data from them. They are happy to have their hours recorded, but believe strongly that they are volunteers and whatever time they have to give, and what they choose to do in that time is their decision.
I have suggested the idea of asking volunteers about their interests and what they would like to do, offer etc and the response has been that it is okay for them to be present and if they want to relax and catch up with each other, or if they have personal stress they may just like to chill, or they can dust, or whatever they feel comfortable to do that day. They also have said to me that I can’t ask a volunteer to do anything, as they are volunteers. We have had Team Meetings, but the attitude of one or two is quite difficult.
Perhaps I should have started with presenting a questionnaire but at the time we recruited these volunteers I did not have any experience with managing volunteers. The person with strong ideas is the person I asked to be the Volunteer Co ordinator he seemed really nice, and willing. Not good please can you suggest any ideas. Where I can find suitable templates of Questionnaires, Applications to volunteer etc. Thanks Regards Lynn
Hi Lynn, sorry for the late reply – we have had some technical issues with our blog which are now fixed. I would highly recommend you attend one of our workshops on Growing Great Volunteer Teams. The next one in Rotorua will be towards the end of August and you will receive lots of templates and handouts to support you improve your volunteer programme in a variety of ways. We will also be publishing a book on the subject in the near future. Keep an eye on the Exult Newsletters for all the updates on workshop dates and venues. Thanks for checking in ~ Rosie